Apollo Hospitals Ahmedabad situated at Bhat GIDC, has become one of the largest privately held critical care centres in Gujarat with the recent addition of an 11 bedded state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to its current facilities, taking their total critical care bed capacity to 87. With this Apollo brings in a new dawn in Critical Care Medicine with a bed mix of 31% ICU beds as opposed to the general norm of 10-15%. This is an initiative towards positioning the Indian critical care services at par with the level International standards aspire to achieve.
This expansion is another step towards the vision of Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Founder Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group to bring international healthcare within the reach of every individual within India. It is also in line with the vision of Shri. I A Modi, Founder Chairman, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd for innovation and world-class quality in health care.
Apollo Hospitals Ahmedabad is a joint venture between Apollo Hospitals Group and Cadila Pharmaceuticals Group and boasts of a bed capacity of more than 276 beds. Over the last decade, it has established Critical Care Medicine as a centre of excellence and has emerged as a trusted destination for critically ill patients. Successful patient outcomes have led to an increased flow of patients not only from Gujarat but also neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Dr. Jay Kothari, Director, Department of Critical Care Medicine said “All Intensive Care Units are not the same. They have different levels of facilities in terms of infrastructure, systems & protocols, trained manpower, consistent and sustained efforts towards infection control, in-house support services such as laboratory, radiology and Blood bank which impact patient outcomes. It is important to be alert that emergencies can happen anytime, and when it comes to critical illness ‘time is life’ and Apollo is best suited to handle any such emergencies.”
A well organized Critical Care team consisting of five senior consultants, two junior consultants and eighteen registrars provides 24×7 care for patients. The team approach allows establishment of protocols, collective review and uninterrupted care. The consultant team is supported by qualified and trained critical care nursing staff and specialists from over 40 other clinical specialities. In-house facilities like laboratory, radiology services like MRI, CT Scan and X-Ray that work round-the-clock along with continuous Blood Bank support prevents delays and gaps in initiating and continuing evidence based treatment and provide patient convenience. Relatives of the patients are counseled and involved in every step of the care provision process through regular family meetings. Various organ-transplant services provided at Apollo hospitals have better clinical outcomes with the support of the Critical Care Department.
Talking about the newly commissioned ICU, Dr. Jay Kothari, further added, “The increased demand of our critical care due to growing faith in our team and care has lead to the birth of the new facility which is state-of-the-art in terms of infrastructure and design. As it was planned to be a critical care unit, personal attention has been paid to details such as lighting, ventilation and maintenance of a sterile environment for infection control which directly influence patient outcomes. In addition to the nine ICU beds, two closed premium beds have also been commissioned with separate space for relatives of patients. A separate counseling room has been allocated to counsel relatives of patients regarding patient condition, disease management and their role in the care provision process.” Maj Gen (Retd.) Dr. Rajesh Kamran, Chief Operating Officer at Apollo Hospitals Ahmedabad said “We offer a unique concept of ‘Hospitalist’, where critical care specialists are involved not only in the management of critical patients, but also in prevention of critical illness in other specialities. Patients who are observed to be at risk of developing any critical illness are proactively managed by a critical care specialist, thus preventing admissions into ICU. This impacts outcomes positively not only clinically but also financially for the patients.
